On the verge of securing their place in the Super 12 semi-finals, the Reds are keen to win for the first time at the 'House of Pain' on Saturday.

Queensland has never beaten the Highlanders at Carisbrook Stadium, known to visiting teams as the 'House of Pain' because of their poor records there, but captain Daniel Herbert is keen to change all that.

Herbert looks to the Wallabies of 2001 and their first-ever win at Carisbrook after 96 years of trying, a 23-15 defeat of the All Blacks, for inspiration.

"It certainly hasn't been a happy hunting ground for us," Herbert said. "The first ever Super 12 game was between us and the Highlanders and we got a nice old spanking over there and it's happened a few times over the years.

"The Wallabies showed last year that it can be done. They broke the hoodoo so we have to go out and create our own little bit of history."

Adding to the Reds' chances is the almost certain withdrawal of playmaker and leading Super 12 point-scorer Tony Brown, who is rated almost no chance of recovering in time to play after straining a hamstring on Friday night.

"He is to their team what Elton Flatley is to ours," Herbert said. "If they were to miss Tony Brown I think it'd be a big blow for them."

While leading up to the win over the Waratahs Queensland had copped some criticism for what were described by some as scratchy wins, Herbert says the victory over New South Wales had given the team a huge confidence boost.

"I think in the end the result didn't count much towards the table because we still have to win next week to get through," he said. "But it was good for our own confidence to put together a much better performance than we have in the past month or so.

"I think there was some justification in that criticism. We've just been scraping through some games and whilst we show moments of very good play we also let ourselves down in some other areas and I think yesterday there was a lot more positives than negatives than we've had in our last four games."